New Rya Rug in the Living Room

The new rug arrived, and it was exactly as advertised - original tags and all. Not sure about where it will end up in the living room - I kind of like the idea of putting the orange swirl rug behind the chartreuse womb chair and a shades of green rug behind the orange Ohlsson chair. We still have a few vintage accessories to hang on the walls, but man - this rug really helps bring the room together. Here's a shot of the rug toward the entry of the living room. That's our Karelian bear dog in the back in the photo - one of our three large rescues, and all black. We need a robot maid.

I've also dug out another present that the wife gave me - a Dazor model 2004 in an unusual cream color. It's just barely visible on the credenza to the far left. We have two of these now - we found one in Long Beach at the flea market for $40 bucks - my wife almost couldn't get the money out fast enough. With lamps, it doesn't really matter if they are working or not as they are so easy to re-wire. I will do a DIY post on my next lamp rebuild. The cream colored one we found in a really packed to the rafters run-down antique dealer - I believe that was in either Long Beach or Anaheim. I think my wife haggled them down to around $75 bucks. Really neat lamps - they have a sort of pressure clutch - there is a plastic fitting inside of a brass fitting that is counter-balanced by the offset mass of the UFO shade hanging to one side. This keeps the shade set firmly at whatever height you set it at just by sliding the arm up or down the pole. A very heavy weight in the base keeps the whole lamp from toppling over. This mid century atomic ranch is coming together nicely! 

A Swanky New (Read: OLD) Rug for the Ranch; or - How to Win at eBay Auctions More Often that You Lose.

The rug, as seen on eBay

The house needs some color splashes here and there, and I've been keeping an eye on Craigslist, Bisman (our local online free ad), Etsy, and eBay. With any of this mid century stuff, if you've begun collecting in the post-Madmen era, you know that the prices have gone up steadily. There are a few ways to combat this. One is to have patience, scour your online and in-print ads, and hit your local thrifts *every* *SINGLE* *WEEK*. I've seen some pretty cool stuff in and around Minot at thrifts, junk sales, flea markets, and yard sales. Man, do I miss the Long Beach Flea Market. I have found some great stuff here, though. Just not the kind of rugs that we're after. You would think that there would be some here - they are a Scandanavian art form after all...